Take advantage of cats natural curiosity to entertain them and bond with them. All cats have different personalities “it is important to pay attention to your not and not push them to do something they don’t want to do.”

Fun look at the evolutionary pressures that explain some of the behaviors your cat engages in. While those behaviors can see odd inside your house there are often reasonable explanations for why the instinct driving such behaviors evolved in cats.

the progenitors of today’s cats split from their wild counterparts more than 100,000 years ago – much earlier than once thought…
The earliest archaeological evidence of cat domestication dates back 9,500 years, when cats were thought to have lived alongside humans in settlement sites in Cyprus.

Pippa’s incredible gift came to light when she crept into Mia’s room and woke her up in the middle of the night prompting the schoolgirl to test her blood sugar levels which showed they were dangerously low.

And when Pippa couldn’t get into the schoolgirl’s room to check she was feline fine, the persistent puss woke up her mum, Laura instead.

Mrs Jansa said: “We quickly realised she was warning us. If Mia didn’t wake up, then she would come to my door and miaow. She comes onto the bed, walks onto my pillow and across me until I wake up. She really makes her presence felt, she won’t take no for an answer. She knows it’s important that I get up and help Mia.”
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Mia has type one diabetes, an incurable condition, which she manages by regularly testing her blood sugar levels and injecting herself with insulin. She was diagnosed with the condition at the age of 6 when her parents were concerned that she was eating more than before but not putting on weight.

Mia tests her blood sugar levels between four and six times a day. If her blood sugar levels drop dangerously low she can experience a hypoglycemic episode which could lead to a coma.

As the article says dogs have been trained to detect and warn of dangerously low blood sugar, and many other things, but cats have not.

I am a cat person, no surprise, but I do find service dogs to be awesome. It would be wonderful if we could get more service cats. Though even with my innate cat bias I must admit I am not so hopeful for a huge increase in the number of service cats.

Some cats are used to make people more comfortable with emotional support which is nice but I think stretches the definition of “service animal” to a point at which it is meaningless. Yes, animals that make people more comfortable are wonderful but calling them service animals is pretty silly.

You might as well call dropping a baby in someone’s lap a couple times a day is a service worker. But it isn’t. It would be helpful for many people and even extremely helpful, but that doesn’t make the act an act of service.

Cats evolved to hunt for food. And given how many birds, chipmunks, bunnies, mice etc. outdoor cats catch (and sometimes bring back home) they haven’t lost those instincts. They also sometimes stalk us, thankfully that usually doesn’t result in any serious damage.

It isn’t uncommon, however, for our cats to become too sedentary and put on an unhealthy amount of weight. One way to encourage some activity is with puzzle feeders. These also let you reduce food while also giving some extra food they can get with more effort.

Our music is based on feline vocal communication and environmental sounds that pique the interest of cats; it is written in a musical language that is uniquely designed to appeal to the domestic cat. All of the music is recorded on traditional instruments and the human voice. No actual cat, mouse, or bird calls are used (although it may sound like it). The songs are written in three different styles – each song style is designed to convey and evoke a particular mood

David Teie developed and outlined the first comprehensive theory that attempts to explain the cognitive processes involved in our appreciation of music. Working with Charles T. Snowdon at the University of Wisconsin, they studied the affect of David’s species-specific music on cotton-topped tamarin monkeys, resulting in the first controlled study that demonstrated significant and appropriate responses to music from any species other than human.

Like many other really weird things cats do, science hasn’t fully cracked this particular feline mystery. There’s the obvious predation advantage a box affords: Cats are ambush predators, and boxes provide great hiding places to stalk prey from (and retreat to). But there’s clearly more going on here.
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rather than work things out, cats are more inclined to simply run away from their problems or avoid them altogether. A box, in this sense, can often represent a safe zone, a place where sources of anxiety, hostility, and unwanted attention simply disappear.
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According to a 2006 study by the National Research Council, the thermoneutral zone for a domestic cat is 86 to 97 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s the range of temperatures in which cats are “comfortable” and don’t have to generate extra heat to keep warm or expend metabolic energy on cooling. That range also happens to be 20 degrees higher than ours,

Cardboard is a great insulator and the small space can warm up above the room temperature.

Of course these explanations don’t answer why cats like to site inside tape outlines on the floor.

Research is wonderful but cats often seem to be so far beyond our beyond our ability to understand we are left to just love them. It is enough to know that your cats will love the boxes you give them and tape outlines you draw on the floor – unless, of course, they don’t.

The study is interesting but hardly conclusive (15% for example is not at all a proven figure). It was a limited number of cats and limited in other ways but does provide some indication that increase eating during winter, if food is available. If you limit food in order to keep the cat from getting too fat you might want to vary the amount a bit based on the season.

Periods of peak and trough food intake coincided with peaks and troughs in both temperature and daylight length. In conclusion, average food intake in summer is approximately 15% less than food intake during the winter months, and is likely to be due to the effects of outside temperatures and differences in daylight length. This seasonal effect in food intake should be properly considered when estimating daily maintenance energy requirements in cats.

Food intake was greatest during the months of late autumn and winter (e.g. October to February).

In conclusion, a seasonal effect on voluntary food intake exists in domesticated cats, whereby food intake is greater in winter and less in summer. These changes in food intake are likely to be the result of changes in ambient temperature, daylight length, or both, and the fact that they do not cause bodyweight changes suggest that they occur in response to changes in energy requirements. The possible effect of climatic variation on voluntary food intake in pet cats should be considered in companion animals, and may mean that feeding strategies may need to be seasonally adjusted, to ensure that availability meets demand at different times of the year.

One of the challenges with pets is how to care for them if you are away. You might trust a few of your friends with your wonderful pets 🙂 When that works it is great. Sometimes you can even win over those unfortunate pet-less souls to improve their lives with a wonderful cat. Or maybe even a dog, though that seems to be a step down in my opinion 🙂

But occasionally that won’t work. There are wonderful pet spas to board you pets, but finding one you trust can be a challenge. Showing their 2nd class nature again 🙂 some dogs even require daycare even just for a workday. I don’t know of cats that are so needy 🙂

Obviously you want to be sure the place is clean and the kennels are safe and comfortable for the pets. But the competence and caring of the staff is critical and it can be a bit difficult to judge. Recommendations from friends are nice, from a vet you trust might be even better (they have the opportunity for so much feedback that if bad things are happening they would likely know). Checking on any required licenses and registrations is also wise (what is available would vary by state in the USA).

Pet spas should allow you to bring in food your pet prefers as well as toys (again needy dogs :-), most likely, but maybe for some cats too). I definitely would make a visit prior to leaving my pet.